volleyball2_120The Lansing girls varsity volleyball team had a successfull 2 and 0 week, running its winning streak to 4, with 3 game sweeps of Whitney Point ( Thursday Oct 6th) and Groton (Wednesday Oct 12th) both at home.

In game 1 against W. Point the Bobcats broke open a 14-8 advantage with a 9-0 run enroute to a 25-11 victory. Key in that stretch was the play of Junior Hannah Armstrong who had 5 service points and 3 consecutive Ace's.  Lansing outscored the visiting Eagles 13-3 to close out the contest.

Game 2 was a bit tighter early on but the serving of Armstrong and senior Amber Howser helped build a 10-4, when Junior Shalyn Watson took over, with 3 strong service points, including two ace's, to make it 14-6. The Bobcats then put the game away with the final 7 points in an impressive 25-9 victory.

Game 3 proved to the closest of the night. In fact the Bobcats fell behind early 10-2.  A 6-0 run led by Juniors Kelsey Thomas, Keara Lowenhar and Jada Gooch closed the margin to 13-9. Thomas led a second mini run with 4 straight service points along with a Hannah Armstrong ace to tie the score at 15. From there it was all Bobcats as Thomas continued her dominant play with several ace's. Coupled with senior Shanna Shaff who had the final 3 service points all Ace's the Bobcats rallied for a 25-19  win, to sweep the 2 game series with the Eagles. For the 3 games Kelsey Thomas led the way with 11 Ace's and 17 service points.

On Wednesday(12th) night  Lansing welcomed the Groton Indians and again jumped out early building a 10-2 lead. They built the margin to 9 pts at one point behind the all around play of Senior Co-Captain Caroline Prybyl  who had several impressive kills in addition to 5 ace's and the final 3 service points in a 25-14 Game 1 victory.

"Caroline is probably one of my best servers", said Second year coach Brenda Powers. "My captains ( Prybl and K. Thomas) lead on the court as well as off it.  They are natural leaders. The girls chose them."

Game 2 proved to be one of the more exciting ones of the IAC season with 10 ties and 10 lead changes throughout.  Again it was the play of Prybl and Thomas that led the Bobcats, the latter tying the game at 18 apiece. But the scrappy Indians hung tough and built a 24-20 lead. One point away from a loss Lansing got a gigantic effort from Prybl who tallied 3 ace's in the next 4 service points to tie the score again at 24. Prybl hit another Ace and a huge Kill by Senior Amber Howser lifted the Bobcats to a thrilling 27-25  Game 2 win.

"Groton's improved from our first match, Powers noted.. Sometimes we lose focus. But in the end  brought it back."

Game 3 had two early ties and lead changes, but a 5-0 Lansing spurt led by Amber Howser's hot serving built a 14-7 lead. Team balance was on display, as Prybl, Thomas, Howser and Armstrong all showing their varied offensive skills in a 25-16 match clinching victory.

For the night Prybl was the top gun with 22 service points over the 3 games, including 7 aces, 5 blocks and 3 kills. Thomas chipped in 4 aces and 2 kills.  Amber Howser added 9 kills, while Hannah Armstrong dished out 7 assists. In total all 13 players got time over the 3 games, as the Bobcats improved to 9-1 on the year, the lone loss comming to first place Trumansburg.

The team will be off from game competition till Monday October 17th, when they host Moravia on Senior night. That starts a tough stretch of 3 games in 5 days, including back to back contests with conference rivals Dryden (19th) and the rematch with Trumansburg (21st.)  Also last Wednesday the Lansing JV bounced back from a tough loss to Whitney Point, winning 2 of 3 from Groton by scores of 25-13 and 25-14.

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